Chairs and Professorships

An endowed chair or professorship has the single most direct impact on the operating budget of the Jacobs School of Music. Not only does it bring additional private sector dollars into the budget-it does so in perpetuity. The University Faculty Endowment Matching Program-which is a commitment from the campus to double the income of an endowed chair or professorship for its duration-makes an endowed chair or professorship even more significant.

In the field of music, endowed faculty positions for artists and scholars have assumed increasing importance. It is not uncommon in the major orchestras as well as in the academic field to see increasing numbers of endowed chairs. This phenomenon gives an additional importance to an appointment that has not been a factor in the past. The best candidates for positions in the Jacobs School of Music will understandably be offered the highest salaries that an academic institution can justify, but many prospective faculty will also look at such signs of prestige as an endowed faculty position provides. With the decline in state appropriations, it is only through private sector help that we will be able to recruit the kind of faculty that are capable of leadership roles in the Jacobs School.

An endowed chair or professorship will allow the Jacobs School to search for artists and scholars who have distinguished themselves as both performers and pedagogues. The monies provided by chairs allow us to compete in the marketplace of performance as well as in that of academia, giving us the opportunity to actively recruit for faculty of the highest renown.

Endowed funds are permanently invested to produce annual income. Investment returns that exceed the amount needed for distribution are invested to add to the growth of the fund. Endowments therefore provide stable, dependable sources of financial support, protected from the uncertainties of state funding, tuition, or other factors.